The Unilever Global Development Award: Barclays

Award Type:

Unreasonable Impact created by Barclays and Unreasonable Group combines sustainability problem solving with job creation.

Action and Impact

By 2020, it is estimated that the global economy will need 212 million new jobs. In response, the transatlantic bank Barclays has teamed up with Unreasonable Group to launch a programme to help scale businesses that could help to employ thousands of people worldwide.

Unreasonable Impact is the world’s first network of international accelerators focused on scaling up entrepreneurial solutions that both tackle social and environmental issues and have the potential to create lots of jobs. Supporting a number of growth-stage ventures in the UK, US and Asia-Pacific, through mentoring and resources, the programme is already starting to have an impact after just two years.

For example, the programme is supporting companies such as: Lanzatech which uses anaerobic microbes to convert waste into fuel; Desolenator which uses solar technology to purify any water into drinking water; and Memphis Meats which is leading the ‘clean meat’ movement.

In five years, Unreasonable Impact hopes to support the creation of more than 500 jobs on average at each of the businesses engaged in the programme. “At Barclays we help businesses scale and grow. Through Unreasonable Impact we’re harnessing this knowledge to support ground-breaking ventures with the potential to address some of society’s most pressing challenges. With our resources and mentorship, we’re helping to grow the green economy and create the jobs of tomorrow,” says Joe McGrath, Barclays’ Global Head of Banking.